Here is my discussion about the readings

Justine said...

The James Squire article “The Ten Great Ideas in the Teaching of English During the Past Half Century” caused me to question the types of literature our students at my middle school in Durham are being exposed to. As a faculty we try hard at our school to hook our student population into reading by choosing texts that easily excite students because of the content. The Bluford Series books are a staple in every Githens Middle School classroom and I find that many of my students have read the same book multiple times. Although I feel the Bluford Series is a powerful tool for the non-readers, I cannot help but feel that we are expanding curriculum while sacrificing quality (which Squire warns against).
Blufords’ lexile levels run at around a fourth grade reading level yet I notice some of my eighth grade Honors students carrying them around. Much advanced “expanded” reading materials are not made readily available to certain groups of students at my school. I worry the focus rests too much on achieving yearly growth on standardized tests while ignoring other populations of students who do not fall into the 1-2 EOG score range. As Squire says, “only first rate literature is capable of eliciting real experience.” If we are only conscious of choosing texts that students may be able to connect with rather than fusing great writing that holds commonalities with teenage experience, then we are denying our students the ability to have a powerful literary experience with great writing. I don’t want my students reading ONLY Bluford books (which consists of simple sentences and shallow characterization) when there is other literature that is well written, challenging and offers students the opportunity to make text-self connections along the way.
My school offers little to no professional development for our AIG population; all of the sessions revolve around remediation. This article really forced me to question the student populations are NOT being considered… I think this may actually be a topic I am interested in pursuing in our class.

-Justine LaMantia